“The
only thing harder than letting go is moving on.”
We have tried to identify Who’s the Enemy in our Education Systems
in Belize
and open our eyes to why so many of us live desensitized to daily life in this
new global and digital age. Now, it’s
time to move on to the next stage. Are
we ready and willing? Mega-sized
problems that continue to plague our nation everyday lie not only in areas of
Education but in other key areas that prevent us from improving our standards
of living. Quality health care is not
available or affordable to everyone throughout Belize ’s
cities, towns, and rural areas.
Employment for professionals is not available on a competitive basis,
but rather only to the few who (whose families) are lucky enough to have the
right “political connections”. The fact
remains, though, that even if our Education systems do not meet all the
challenges that confront an Independent nation, teachers in Belize remain grossly underpaid, undervalued, and
unappreciated by too many. I extend
kudos to BNTU and to all educators who are bravely fighting (the government)
and trying to improve this unjustifiable and unfair condition.
Most students and educators in Belize know well that since our Independence in 1981 the country's Education Systems are due for a
total revamping and upgrade. Outdated
and ineffective Colonial Systems of Education that we (Government and Church)
insist on maintaining and following no
longer meet all our nation’s pressing needs in this global and digital
Age. If indeed they do meet all our
nation’s needs, then where is the growing network of successful vocational,
technical, and scientific professionals “educated in Belize ”? Where are the dozens of successful “educated
in Belize ” entrepreneurs who
continue to receive every incentive possible from the government to build and
boost the nation’s economy, year after year?
Why don’t we have enough tax revenues from successful industries pouring into government coffers to
be able to provide free education up through university level to all our
Youth? Where is that thriving network of
“home-educated and prepared” business professionals in the financial field who
are steering Belize toward
becoming an exemplary “success story” in the Caribbean ? Where are the professionals, “educated in Belize ”, who maintain a thriving Industrial Base
in this jewel of ours? Where are the
local graduates of Technical and Vocational Schools throughout Belize who everyday build, fortify, and enhance
our growing cities and communities in all six Districts, from North to South and East to West? As an Independent nation we ourselves, not
only immigrants and foreigners, must be able to build, support, and invest in
our communities -- business wise and in every other way. An abundance of legal professionals
trained and educated abroad and working in our midst is not enough to steer us into
prosperity.
Teachers could work much more
effectively in classrooms everyday (Primary or Secondary) if they did not feel that they had to coerce students to memorize Math and Science sections of a
government-mandated or Commonwealth-copied curriculum, just long enough so the
students might pass government-required examinations. Moreover, students may be able to memorize lessons
just long enough so they can pass exams, but many of them do not understand or
“learn”. Worst of all, even though we
can now boast of having our very own institutions of higher learning,
universities in Belize ,
hundreds of their graduates each year cannot enter (find work) into the
country’s workforce of professionals.
So, where can/do they each go after graduation? University Degrees are not awarded only to be
framed! Our young people work very hard
and incur many debts to be able to obtain a quality/higher education -- they
want and need to work and use that education “in Belize ”.
Beyond the profound issue of Learned Helplessness being perpetuated
by non-changing Colonial and Commonwealth-copied Systems of Education in
Belize, no one wants to live within the confines of a sluggish economy, a
staggeringly expensive health care system, and growing unemployment. We want and need Education
Systems that can deliver and produce graduates who are eager, ready, and
qualified to take over the reins of the country. On the other hand, those who have controlled
those reins (or still do) also need to hand them over to qualified and
home-educated Belizeans! Those of us,
especially the policymakers in government, who have grown used to accepting
hand-outs, must also realize that no one will hand us on a platter: neatly typed,
fully explained, and ready-to-use Education systems to match many of the needs
of Independent Belize today. We must first want such systems and then work
hard together to create them! We
parents, educators, the government and Church policymakers have to break free
from that Colonial mindset of learned helplessness that perpetuates the belief
that only “Massah’, or someone from abroad, has all the answers. Let’s not continue to live hopelessly
out-of-touch and blinded to the truth that we are now “on our own” -- simply
because it’s convenient to remain idle!
No country ever achieves success by copying and pasting another
country’s (someone else’s) version of success, whether in Politics, Economics,
or in Education. So, yes, it’s time to
let go of any old Colonial ways that no longer serve us; but let’s not then
hopelessly and pitifully wait for someone else to move us on. Only we can move ourselves forward!
While I worked as a teacher and
Vocational Guidance Counselor in both American and Belizean high schools, at
the beginning of each school year I encouraged each student to set SMART goals
for himself/herself: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Results-Oriented,
Time-Bound. No one simply hands out
success to a student; rather, he/she must first set himself/herself on a path
to success and then work steadily to achieve each goal set -- no giving up
no matter how rough the school year may get.
Likewise, no one will simply deliver productive Systems of Education to Belize ’s policymakers, administrators, and
educators. First, we must want systems
that are fully functional and able to produce the educated and professional
citizens we need to support and develop the nation. Second, we proceed to create working systems
by gathering input from everyone, including parents and educators, not only
from the government, church, or professionals in the field of Education. Third, we put the systems in effect, work with our students and
continue to learn and grow with them, and finally we amend them as often as we
may need. Let us, today not tomorrow,
take the next steps to strengthen our obsolete and cut-in-stone Systems of Education
so they can serve us much more effectively and productively.
Author’s Note:
These articles are not intended
to be comprehensive or complete. They
are written and contributed in an effort to provide a “starting point” for
valuable discussion amongst educators, students, and the community. If we discuss and review students’ learning
capabilities and the ways in which we currently try to educate them, then we
can learn from our mistakes as well as success.
Way to go, fellow educators!